HS30-H

The Ozdat calculator is mistaken on the length of 1969 through 1975-ish standard L20A (6-cyl) rods. They are 133mm centre to centre. L20B (4-cyl) rods are much longer, at 145.9mm centre to centre.

I think you might be getting the L20A (6-cyl) mixed up with the L20B (4-cyl). L20A rods are 133mm centre to centre. Same as late L24 and late L16.

It may not help you if the factory tar board/sound deadener is no longer present on your floor panels, but I noted on my 4/70 HLS30U that it had gaps which corresponded with the factory footrest mount positions. No factory footrest or doubler mounts underneath, but the tar board has the corresponding gaps should they have been required:

With the caveat that - of course - you'll need to transpose for LHD.

This car is not 'HLS30-00059' in any practical sense. It is simply the identity of 'HLS30-00059' pinned onto a much later bodyshell. The description says that the body was 'replaced' ("...the original bodywork was in a lamentable state and had to be replaced...") but that is not possible on these cars as each bodyshell has its own unique identity - assigned to it by the factory - and it is non-transferable. The description tries to side-step this ("...very few “original” parts remain, and a substantial part of the bodywork is comprised of 1972 and 1973 parts...") but the bodyshell of this car is that of a complete post-1973 car, from which the original identity - in the form of the firewall-engraved chassis prefix and body serial number - has been removed, and replaced with that of another car. To all intents and purposes, 'HLS30-00059' no longer exists.

Just putting my head around the door to tip my hat at the big 51.

Have you only just noticed? Meanwhile, the S30-series Z was conceived, designed, engineered and produced from 1969 with countless details which tell us that it was not "designed" solely for the USA market. That's the key word. Solely... It makes complete sense for Nissan to have included the holes for the impact bumpers in the (new!) press tooling for the rear panel, and for them to use that rear panel pressing across all market variants. They did the same thing from the beginning of production in many ares of the car. Do you look at the radiator support panel on your '69 car and go through the same thought process? If not, why not?

Yes, factory parts manuals state that the ('4-screw') HJG46W-3A carbs were used up to the end of 08-71, and the '3-screw' type was fitted from 09-71 up. No doubt some people will be satisfied with the HVA award somehow proving that the car was 'preserved' enough in the opinion of judges, but I'd say a much more likely scenario is that they didn't really know enough to make an accurate judgment. The carbs currently fitted to the car are at least a year later than its 08-70 build date.

Yes. That was quick! Well spotted on the carb front Captain Obvious. Let's see what the seller says. The more you look at the car, the more you see. Which would be fine - most of these cars have 'had a life' and we all have to be pragmatic with this and that - but it clashes with being talked-up as a "250k+++" car. From what I've seen, very few BaT posts by 'Lstepp4re' seem to be all that constructive. He got it wrong - again - about side stripe kits (he said "aftermarket only") and nobody picked up on it. How is he credited as being any kind of guru?

I'll ask. Lets see if the question gets past admin there, and what the reaction is if it does.

I went back to remind myself of what this character actually said. He bumped the bidding from 15k to 100k in one shot, then dropped this comment: Despite Chrystal's words, I feel that people *should* question such antics. If this MRM character doesn't go on to bid "250k+++" then what is the true nature and purpose of his participation? On the face of it, this looks like a classic example of market pumping. Of course these sorts of shananigans go on in all kinds of fields, most obviously in the art market. Public auctions are a strange circus at the best of times, but the Bring-A-Trailer format has that extra ingredient of allowing comments (well, not all comments...) and where early S30-series Zs are concerned there seems to be a relatively small cast of characters sitting in the front row:

It appears that many comments are vetted by admin and weeded out before publication, whilst certain 'known' characters get free reign and treat BaT like it is their own personal club. Some of the loudest voices on there clearly don't know their stuff. This 'MRM' character bumped up the bidding by 85k in one bid, then passed comment on it being a '200k car'. Is it only me that finds this kind of behaviour totally lacking in credibility? This is not the technique of a smart buyer, nor the action of an informed marque enthusiast. Apparently this same guy owns the 432 that just won an award at ZCON 2020, so it figures that he doesn't actually know what he's looking at. Seems like the ZCON judges don't either. These are all symptoms of a bubble that is inflating too quickly.

Glad to help. But you are still under suspicion as a potential enemy collaborator.

Unless you've signed up to the 'Made For The USA' club, I didn't mean you in particular.

I think its interesting that some of the people who are evangelical about the similarities between Nissan's L-Gata engine range and the Mercedes M180 OHC engines and descendants are the very same people who want to deny that the L16 and L24 were direct descendants of Nissan's L20 six of 1964/65. We also get all the 'Made For The USA' stuff when the Mercedes engines had inlet and exhaust on the opposite side to the L-Gata. Funny old world, isn't it?

Great post, and I think an excellent illustration of the fact that the authorship (and Intellectual Property) of the wheels in question is firmly in the hands of M-Speed Japan, as they are THEIR interpretation of the original Kobe Seiko styling.

You're not exactly a shining star of innocence in that respect, are you? Is this the old 'Non Disclosure Agreement' thing again? It's a great technique for trying to get off the hook, but unless all cards are on the table how is anyone able to make a balanced judgment? What can you PM to people that excuses your actions in all this? I'll remind you that (setting aside M-Speed Japan's legitimate sales over the last two years) they first "came up for sale" on a Facebook post by some kid in Bulgaria who had bought them direct from the Chinese factory. And that's where you started getting actively involved, isn't it? You can call concerns for the ethics of this situation and questions over quality control "fake news" and "scaremongering", but so far you don't appear to have anything to base your reassurances on. You are attempting to sell 'new' (as in unused) wheels which carry markings that you cannot account for because you are not overseeing their manufacture. Putting your stickers on somebody else's product doesn't give you much control of quality, does it? Huh? You were the one who came up with this! So Sean, what markings do the wheels that M-Speed Japan have retailed in Japan over the last two years carry? Have you seen them? If markings are being ground off - or the moulds have been altered - then you will need to show who is responsible (and, ideally, why) but I'd want to hear both sides of the story wherever possible. I didn't see any ground-off marking on the wheels that I saw in-person in Japan. And yes, I made recommendations of the M-Speed Japan wheels as being good quality (visually) and good value, based on what I saw and what I had been told by others who had bought them. You will remember (or maybe you won't...) that you are also telling us that I'm trying to stop sales, and that I don't really want anyone else to have them. Bizarre. So, once again you're talking about 'factory price' for two products which M-Speed Japan invested in and created. Without that investment, IP and everything that goes with it you'd be nowhere. You are - quite simply - taking a free ride on somebody else's ticket. NOTHING has been stopping people buying these wheels from M-Speed Japan over the last two years. I know people pretty much all over the world who have bought them direct from Japan. I see you make these assertions as though they are fact - and I guess some people swallow it whole - allowing you to ride to the rescue, setting yourself up as some sort of saviour. And what is wrong with 14" wheels? The originals were 14". Painting this as a "grave error" is just... bizarre. Yes, a limited production 15" scale-up version of the 'Rally Mag' style was made over 10 years ago (and very nice they are too...!) but that was simply about widening the tyre options. We are in a better position now with tyres like Advan's HF Type D once again on the market, so 14" is less of a problem for tyre choice. Three suppliers in the US? You're in France. M-Speed Japan's sales are not limited to Yahoo Japan auctions. Anyone can contact them, and they have. You're talking about 'monopolies' (!?!) for a product which M-Speed Japan have brought to market? Would this line of thought also apply to your Z-Story exhausts then? I can't imagine you would accept somebody approaching your Chinese exhaust manufacturer for supply of Z-Story product, and your Chinese manufacturer selling to them. Or would you? Apparently you think its all fair game? So you're painting M-Speed Japan as one of these "un-named" (err...) and "faceless" websites? They can be contacted - in English! - and will sell overseas. What's the problem? Painting yourself as this Robin Hood 'one of us' type figure is all well and good, but when you call into question the integrity of a company whose product you have essentially picked out of their pocket, it doesn't wash with me. If you wanted to do this you should have done it clean. You should have approached M-Speed Japan to work out some kind of deal or clearance, and then put that on the table for potential customers to see before attempting to sell this product with your name on it. The situation needed to be clarified. You got ahead of yourself.

I enquired about this some months back. M-Speed Japan's representative told me that they had made a legal contract with the Chinese casting foundry when they had engaged them to manufacture their wheels for them, and that the Chinese factory had breached this contract by selling these wheels to third parties. M-Speed Japan were quite clear that they do not authorise these parallel - effectively 'back door' - sales, and that the Chinese factory are in breach of contract.

Says the factory to you, right? The factory which apparently has absolutely impeccable ethics... ...a factory you can definitely trust, right? So, to clarify, you're standing behind the quality if these wheels with what? Their word? There's that baloney again. I suppose you think that if you keep repeating it, some of it might stick. Deluded. Nurse! No, what you have done - to all intents and purposes - is collaborate with the Chinese factory in what at the very least is sharp practice and, at worst, sheer grifting. You will be in no position whatsoever to comment on the situation between the Chinese factory and M-Speed Japan unless you have spoken to both sides and come to some kind of agreement with all sides. I don't know how I can make it any more plain to you and I honestly wonder why the people close to you are not advising you to wind your neck in and to go about this the right way. I think a lawyer would give you some wise words at this point. Setting aside the fact that JDM Car Parts have no obligation to you, to M-Speed Japan or anybody else to indulge you in your 'test' idea: What exactly will you be providing? How does one of the wheels that you have got in your hands represent what will be coming out of the Chinese factory in future? That's THE WHOLE POINT about the quality. You didn't specify anything in this project. You have not created anything. There would be nothing for you to peddle if it had not been for M-Speed Japan's investment, IP, R&D, QC and everything else that goes with a project like that. M-Speed Japan had a contractual agreement with the Chinese factory so there would naturally be some control of material, quality and consistency over the last two+ years of operations, but you've stepped in out of the blue and you somehow seem to expect that you can inherit all of that? Why? Nobody needs to be "rich" to buy these wheels from M-Speed in Japan. M-Speed Japan's prices are perfectly reasonable considering the costs that will have been incurred in setting up the project, the overheads that a Japanese company incur in day-to-day operations and the profit margins that they levy on their products. That's business, and it is their business. Their main expected market was, and still is, Japan and their prices are perfectly reasonable for that market. You don't have any god-given right to step into that picture and accuse them of both "profiteering" and insufficient sell-through. It's none of your business. I'll say it again. You should have approached M-Speed Japan and talked to them about this situation before you started dealing with the Chinese factory. The possibility of a distribution deal, an agency or commission based sales would have been good topics for discussion. Did that not even occur to you? Really, what has happened to you, Sean?

Change of menu? Up to now you've been serving plenty of baloney.

@Gav240z Care to comment on this, Gavin? I don't get Sean's constant reference to the words 'Reproduction', 'Replica' - or whatever rubbery and blurred-around-the-edges terms we care to use - as being so troublesome. We all know these terms are moveable feasts at the best of times. It's just a distraction.

Everyone - but everyone! - knows that they are made in China! When M-Speed first put them on the market in Japan there was much discussion about the price points only being possible because they were made in China. I've even heard people in Japan refer to them as "the Chinese ones". It is in no way a secret. You seem to be way out of your depth here. You don't appear to have any concept of the Japanese costings, let alone the politics involved in all of this. And I'm going to point - once again - at your bizarre Straw Man style technique of putting words in someone else's mouth and then refuting them, as though it's a real thing. It isn't.

Are you honestly saying that you haven't even got M-Speed Japan's website, Yahoo Japan auctions listings or magazine ads to hand? It's not like they've been hiding their light under a bushel for the last few years, is it? You've pinched their IP and hard work, but you don't even know where from. Ye gods...

It's the key rings, isn't it? M-Speed just didn't think of offering complimentary key rings. I think you've got them beat there.